SW:TOR Hunted
by Wayne M Thomason
Summary: [Star Wars: The Old Republic] After an attack on a neutral space station by Sith forces, one lone Jedi Consular Is on a mad dash for his life to get the message to Republic forces. But hot on his trail are four Sith Lords who want nothing more then to hunt down this messenger. Who will get their first?
1. Chapter 1

The station had already been lost. Not that is had ever been won. But the administrator's security forces were no match for the fleet that had just fell into orbit around the station. It was by chance that a Republic ship had been there at all. Problems with the hyperdrive had forced them to make this emergency stop. The trade station in orbit of Vespa was the closest spot and it had taken over a month at conventional speeds to reach it.  
Vespa was a gas giant with thirteen moons all rich with minerals; much less the gas mining that went on the gas giant itself. The asteroid belt surrounding Vespa was thought to have possibly been a fourteenth moon, but whatever the case may be it usually made a good hiding spot for pirates in the system as well.

With the extra month of travelling most of the Republic forces had been granted shore leave aboard the station and down on the only habitable moon Vespa had; Trillian. It was because of this that the Cruiser had relied on the stations defenses, because they had dropped themselves to minimal manning. When the two Sith Empire battleships had dropped out of hyperdrive they had immediately begun their assault. There first target was the Republic Cruiser. It is at unfortunate times like this when the oldest of logics makes itself immediately clear; Even with the most advanced technology, without warriors to make it function… it's useless.

In minutes the cruiser was ablaze and crashing into the powerful gravity well of Vepsa. What made it worse was that the station's defenses never activated. Shields never rose and cannons never fired. The Sith battleships launched boarding craft full of Mandalorian mercenaries led by a handful of Sith. The proud Ithorian, Aliress Va'keer, who was the senior of three Jedis assigned to the cruiser, took a squad to investigate command to find out what was going on, while her two companions Krunmat and Thomas Zhaan were left to organize the station security and what Republic forces that were still on the station and evacuate everyone else.

Krunmat hadn't waited to be told which duty to take and immediately started rounding up security guards and troopers. That left Thomas to start the evacuation, no easy task. It would have been simpler to fight off an enemy than having to fight off the panic of 1500 people. As people stampeded back toward their ship; the slow, the weak, and the small were getting trampled. Thomas tried yelling and screaming at the people streaming by him. But nothing had helped, they wouldn't be stopped. Finally he had drawn his double bladed lightsaber to stop some miners from stomping right over two young children a Rodian girl and a Twilek boy. That had got their attention, and the idea had hit him like lightning.

Using acrobatics power by force jumps and pushes, Thomas performed a mini acrobatic show with glowing green blades twirling about. It only took a few moments but the crowd actually slowed to see what it was. Once Thomas had most of the crowd's attention he stopped. All their faces looked up at him scared, but now curious. Thomas waved his hand in front of him.

"You do not want to run. You want to save each other. Move safely to your ships. Leave no one behind." Thomas said with confidence in his voice not showing the inner drain trying to mind trick a room full of people truly was. The group stood there for a moment, and then slowly turned and started making their way toward the loading dock. He watched as the miners he had stopped only moments before pick up the children they had almost run over and carry them on.

As they started moving again Thomas leaned against a pillar regaining his strength. His comm link chirp and he reached into his pocket pulling out his earpiece. He activated the unit and placed it in his ear. "Go ahead."

"Thomas where are you?" asked Aliress in a very worried tone.

"I'm down on the promenade." He responded.

"Where is Krun? I can't reach him on the comm.."

"I don't know. Last time I saw him he was rounding up the station security to repel borders." Thomas explained as he stood back up wiping his brow.

"He may be to busy then." She reasoned out. "I need you to head down to the engineering plant. Apparently there was an explosion right before the Sith dropped into orbit, and we can't reach anyone down there."

"An explosion? I didn't feel a thing. The inertia dampening system on this station must be incredible." Thomas exclaimed.

"Zhaan, Focus!"

"Sorry Aliress. Okay, Engineering, I'm on it!"

"Contact me as soon as you get down there. Be careful." She added and then disconnected the link.

Thomas moved quickly, at first taking the elevator, but it was only able to get him down a couple of decks. He started down the auxiliary stairs. When he finally got down to engineering it was immediately clear why there had been no response from engineering up to control.

Thomas activated the comm to Aliress. "Aliress, there's been a breach in the bulkhead down here. It looks like all their engineering personnel were blown out into the vacuum of space before the emergency force fields were erected. I…"

But he never finished the sentence, as suddenly a wave of nausea and pain swept across him. Thomas had to grab the side of the bulkhead to stop from tumbling over. When he regained himself he immediately went back to the comm.

"Aliress… did you…"

She replied with a hardened sorrow in her voice. "Yes… Krunmat is no longer with us." And then after a pause, "I sense the dark side."

Grunmat had been the most empathically sensitive of the three. And Aliress had known the Rodian Jedi for quite some time now. Thomas opened up his feelings and he found he could feel it to. It felt like Envy and Hatred wrapped in a hunger that that was painful. It was the dark side.

"What do we do?" Thomas asked.

"Can you get power to the stations defenses?"

"Possibly." Thomas shrugged, "there is plenty of damage down here, but it looks as if the main power is still intact. I could try to reroute some power if I can find a working console."

"Do it!" She didn't yell, but the tension was showing in her voice. And then the link was severed on her end.

Thomas didn't think, he just acted. Had he stopped to think he probably wouldn't have done it. He jumped over to nearby scaffolding. The main fusion generator was still online and the only functioning console he could see was on the scaffolding next to the missing bulkhead floating over an ocean of Space.

The viewscreen flashed on and off like power was filtering into it but not steadily. Thomas smacked the monitor hard on its side and the flashing stopped and the monitor became stable. Thomas quickly rerouted power to weapons and shields. From his vantage point Thomas could see the starbase's energy shields ignite to life, seconds after that the stations Lascannons started firing at the two Sith ships. The first few hits took the ships by surprise, the Sith hadn't even bothered to raise their shields. This had to have been a planned assault. Even the destruction down here in the engine room must have been premeditated.

"I have to get to Aliress." The thought came with the wrenching thought that they had stumbled upon a trapped that was never intended for them. Thomas turned about to jump back to the other side and then he saw her.

She was walking slowly up the far side of the room, her hand dragging little bits of force lightning from her fingertips to the top of the metallic safety rail. She wore barely any clothing, instead her fleshed covered in dark tribal like tattoos. Her skin was ashen grey and her body was as taught as a dancer's. She seemed to have a gleam of mischief shining from them, but underneath Thomas sensed cruelty, and possibly insanity.

The station started to rock as incoming fire from the two battleships started to rain down against the station's shields. Thomas grabbed on to the railing as the scaffolding he was on shook dangerously. The woman on the far side easily kept her footing with grabbing anything to secure herself as the world of the engine room shook around them both.

She looked past him, out to the Sith vessels that were now being fired upon by the station's defenses. "Why is the Republic here young Jedi? The Republic isn't supposed to be here." She never looked back at him as she asked the questions. "Your Rodian friend was too quick to jump on the blade of my master, taking his own life rather than shame himself in a useless battle. Master Xernathus wasn't pleased with his death at all. Not that it mattered. With your Republic belly exposed we extinguished your ship in no time. Your forces are no match for the Mandolorians we have with us. They all fall like Jawas." And that's when she looked back at him.

Thomas felt his anger rise, but he kept in check. The Twilek across the void smiled with an almost lustful look. She was used to stirring emotions, normally those of desire and lust, but anger was just as useful. Jedi lost something of the edge when having to control their anger.

"Oh, were you and he close? Lovers perhaps? Childhood friends? No matter, you'll be joining him soon enough." Her smiled continued but she felt a change in her prey now. Had she said something wrong?

Lovers? It almost made Thomas laugh, both he and Grun were quite heterosexual, both getting into trouble for slipping into the female Padawan dorm rooms as Padawans themselves. While Jedis were taught to rise above their emotions, it was hard for them to rise above their hormones. Thomas smiled back at the Sith woman, with a look in his eyes that blurted out she had messed up.

Immediately Darth Levictus raised her hand and blasted Thomas with force lightning. But he was already gone. Thomas had jumped the moment before launching himself across the void of the engineering compartment. But he had miscalculated his jump. Without bulkhead and decks there was no artificial gravity to fight against, so his Force jump shot him off like a bullet. He could hear the lightning destroy the panel he had just worked on. Outside the weapons were still firing and the shields were still up so that Sith bitch would have a hell of a time shutting them down now.

Levictus cursed loudly. She saw the Jedi move across the black, it looked like he was flying. He had jumped for a small section of bulkhead that attached to another compartment. But because of his speed he didn't land on that small piece of deck, but instead shot straight through the open hatch. This was quickly followed by the sound of a crash.

Thomas landed hard meeting both the deck and bulkhead at the same time ramming into a stack of empty energy cells. But as much as that hurt, being electrocuted to death before drifting into the cold vacuum of space seemed less appealing. Pain or not, Thomas was back on his feet in seconds and on the move. The crazy Sith woman was more powerful than him. Is only chance was to get her into the open where he could wield his lightsaber. His style bordered on the acrobatic, and for that he needed room.

The storage room connected back out to the main passageway. Thomas Zhaan was already sprinting back toward the maintenance ladder when another bolt of lightning came at him from behind. It missed him, hitting a steam pipe instead. He could hear the Sith behind him cursing. Thomas bypassed the emergency ladder; he'd be to easy a target moving up the ladder. Instead he kept moving forward into the unknown.

Thomas moved quickly up a flight of stairs to the next level, Levictus close on his heels. The damage was less apparent on this level; mostly made of some offices and a briefing room. It wasn't until he moved back into the upper decks of the engineering plant that he saw this giant piece of Bulkhead missing. But his path abruptly ended as the path he was on was simply gone, sheered off by the explosion like many other pieces of the station here. Thomas looked around quickly, he only had seconds before his pursuer was on him. Then he heard the familiar hiss of a lightsaber igniting to life.

Thomas Zhaan, Jedi Knight turned and saw her emerge from the steam her lightsaber illuminated red to her side, Darth Levictus, Sith Lord… the Seductress. Thomas pulled his lightsaber free from its clips, igniting both green blades. He didn't swirl the blades around in a show, nor did he challenge her. He took his defensive stance and waited. There was going to be a lot of collateral damage.


	2. Taking Vespa Station

The station commander's administrative assistant lay dead at Sith Lord's feet; the three inch curved blade still stuck in his jugular, blood however was now longer spurting out, now just a slow leak as the inner pressure of the Alderan's body met the pressure of the interior cabin. Darth Xernathus was pleased. The assistant's own greed had brought the dead man to his own end. That… and sniveling. Xernathus couldn't stand sniveling. Too many thought of their own gains when dealing with the Sith Empire. It was for the Sith alone to reap the rewards of the Empire offered.

The pirates in this area had been dealt with systematically over the last few month by Sith forces. The resources in this system would supply the Empire with a much needed supply line for some of the more difficult materials to get. And Vespa was far enough out of the way that the Republic didn't usually worry about the independent mining operations that went on there. It was perfect.

Vespa station was the key. Its capture would then allow Empire forces to move in to the moons and the gas giant itself. Ambition of fools had allowed everything to progress smoothly. Along with the administrative assistant, the chief engineer had switch alliances from independent to the Empire. She would have been useful but her death had become a necessity. The chief had planted the explosive in her own engine room. What she didn't know was how powerful it would truly be. What she thought was simply thermite was actually a dolomite charge. It was to be used to take out the stations defenses… Even now Xernathus could see the gaping hole in the engineering section from his shuttle's window.

While looking at the station a large flash caught his attention. Looking over he saw that the Republic Cruiser that had been guarding the station had suffered a major stress fracture running almost stem to stern down the top of the vessel. Flame was erupting from the breached hull as oxygen races to escape the pressurized compartments. Already the cruiser was drifting toward Vespa, pulled along by the Gas Giant's large gravity well. The two Sith Destroyers had made short work of her upon exiting Hyperspace. All that was left now was to take the station and dispatch any remaining republic forces. Should be easy enough Xernathus thought to himself, just before the station's defenses activated.

Automated canon fire sprang to life targeting the two Sith Destroyers orbiting the station as the stations shields sprung to life. Had the boarding shuttles not already been close to docking they would have been repulsed by the energy. The destroyers were caught unaware now for the second time this engagement; first by the presence of Republic forces, and now by unplanned resistance from the station. Oh there was to be some resistance for sure, but it wasn't supposed to be like this. If the engineer had done her job the station's security chief should already be dead, leaving station security as effective as a beheaded serpent. Things were obviously not going according to plan.

"Five minutes until we breach." announced the loud speaker in the cabin which broke Xernathus's train of thought. Breaching probably wasn't the right word. The proper codes fro docking and entry had been given by the dead Alderan. The doors would open nicely, just as if they had been invited in. This was just as Xernathus wanted. He had pulled many favors to make this assault happen. By taking Vespa station Xernathus would finally be able to start his own bit of the Empire. Once established here his reach would immediately be felt throughout the empire. His control was growing.

That was where Xernathus was more powerful than all his own apprentices. Looking over he saw Leviticus. She wore barely a thing, not that she needed to. Her taught body with the natural sex appeal attributed to many Twilek women allowed her to play the Mandolorian she was talking with. She used lust to control them. Although she was a Sith Lord herself Xernathus found her foolish. While quite skilled with the force she let her own emotions control her, as well as others. She was known as the Seductress, having tantalized princes and paupers alike. But she had no idea what true power was. True power was control.

Xernathus had four Sith as his disciples. Only one showed to grasp the knowledge he had learned long ago. Power came in many forms; ability, intelligence, skill… but only one towered over them all. Control. Leviticus was to raw, being led, rather than leading with her own emotions, wants, and desires. Xernathus's other disciples were leading the three other boarding vessels.

With less than a minute left Xernathus stood and made his way to the door. "Get ready." He ordered. He didn't need to raise his voice. The only Mandolorians not to follow his command we caught in Leviticus's web. Men, women, they all fell for her. Not many ever got back up.

The codes worked perfectly and the four vessels docked without a problem. Darth Xernathus, Darth Leviticus, and their Mandolorian mercenaries headed up the entry ramp with purpose, not running but moving with a purpose. As they came out of the ramp into the entryway republic blaster fire erupted on them. The first few mercenaries went down quickly but the Mandolorians recouped quickly returning with fire and grenades quickly. Xernathus cared for none of this. Even if station security was being bolstered by Republic trooper, how many had actually been ready for a fight. There were only a few sets of trooper armor out there. The rest had probably been loaned weapons by the station security. The fight would last long, but yet something didn't feel right. When he heard the familiar crackle of energy and whiff of ozone, he knew why.

Not a second went by before the mercenary's blaster bolts were being returned to them by the tip of a blue lightsaber. There were Jedi here. Instantly Xernathus seemed to understand. Looking over to Levictus he told her "Get down to Engineering." The Twilek Sith Lord simply nodded her head and then leapt out into the fray. She ran through the blaster fire as if it wasn't there. The Rodian Jedi moved as if to go after her, but stopped as he saw Xernathus come from around the corner.

The Sith Lord had his lightsabers in his hands yet he hadn't ignited either. No one moved as he crosses the entryway and into the waiting area where the security forces had set up as their first line of defense. He strode directly up to the Rodian Jedi. He could sense the fear come off the Rodian, but also the power. The force was strong with this one. He looked over the Jedi. He was young, but no padawan by any means. His saber was raised in a classic defense posture of the third style. His breathing was calm and controlled under the circumstances.

"Lay down your blade and swear fealty to me, and I'll let you live." was all he said to the Rodian. Xernathus watched the young Jedi contemplate his offer, his large dark eyes processing the information, weighing the outcome of choices. Xernathus could read the answer in the Rodian's eyes before even the young Jedi had realized what it was. And as the Jedi began to raise his own blade to strike the Sith Lord down, Darth Xernathus was already on the move. His arms had hung loosely at his side, the hilt of a lightsaber in each. As the Jedi came to his realization, Xernathus was already crossing his arms in front of his igniting his sabers to life. First the tips of the blades pierced through the sides of the Rodian as the Sith Lord's arms crossed, then he was sawed in half just above the navel as both blades came back.

Even in death the Jedi tried to strike back bringing his own blade down, but with no applicable center of gravity all the motion did was dislodge his chest from his sternum. His top fell face first on the deck. Before the Jedi could even attempt turn over Xernathus dropped to one knee, his blade piercing the Rodian's skull. Blaster fire erupted from behind him shooting the exposed Republic and Security forces as they watched their hope die.

Xernathus didn't pull his saber from the fallen, instead just switched it off. He got back up on his feet as the Mercenaries were charging forward around him. Having dispatched what he saw as the only real problem for the moment he turned and started making his way toward the control station. As he moved he activated a secure comm. link between himself, and his disciples, on the wrist of his bionic arm and spoke into the barely visible microphone on the forearm. Except for Leviticus the other three were each leading raiding parties of their own, each with specific instructions.

"There are Jedi aboard the station." The message was clear. Things were now more complicated. How complicated remained to be seen. Three voices acknowledged his communication. He didn't expect a fourth voice, she didn't say much.

The path up to the controlling center of Vespa station was relatively unimpeded. His boarding shuttle had docked at the closest point to the command deck. As he got to the entrance he found the blast doors had been shut and secured. It was a simple matter of opening them. A long thin panel opened on the underside of his bionic arm, from the opening a small metal rod can out with a large I/O port tip. Darth Xernathus plugged the tip into the droid access port and once again ran the codes that the administrative assistant had given him. The blast doors retracted, opening the last blockade between him and the command deck.

Xernathus could sense the Jedi inside before even moving up the entryway. As he entered he saw her, an Ithorian Jedi. Xernathus had never seen an Ithorian Jedi before. The thought was followed quickly with this may be the last time he saw one too, after he killed her. There were five station security guards standing before her though; three armed with stun batons, two others with rifles.

The stand off only lasted a moment, the guards trying to gauge the opponents strength. It ended as soon as Xernathus activated his sabers. The three guards moved in quickly with their batons at the ready. The guard that came in on his right died first with a slash up the chest that severed one of the security guard's arm and cauterized lung and heart in the human's chest.

While this happened the security guard on Xernathus left got in a lucky shot connecting his baton hard again the Sith Lord's bionic arm. Xernathus felt the shock, but the arm had been built well, and its own internal surge protector actually absorbed much of the voltage. But the Sith Lord was angered at the indignity all the same. With one quick swipe of the arm that had just been hit, the security guard head rolled off its shoulders.

The third guard had stood back waiting for the other two to move in, and then allowing him his shot. But Xernathus was still angry from letting a shot get through. With a flick of hi hand he Force Pushed the security guard across the room embedding him in the Plasteel bulkhead. And still the scowl remained on his face. Xernathus crossed his sabers in front of him as he looked at the two remaining guards. Then moving almost two fast to see, he threw both his lightsabers out. Two twirling red arcs lashed out between him and the remaining guards. Limbs and weaponry fell to the floor as organs were sliced and cauterized inside their torsos.

The lightsabers returned to his hands like they had never left. Xernathus left them on, angled down and curved behind him. Slowly he started walking toward the Ithorian Jedi with only one thought on his mind. This station was his.


	3. To the Escape Pods

The woman was crazy; there would be no denying that. She had chased him around the lower half of the station, and Thomas Zhaan had only just been able to stay a step ahead of her. But the Jedi had managed to do one thing correctly, annoy her by not dying. So far she had thrown lightning at him, rip a bulkhead off a wall and throw it at him, and engage him in lightsaber combat. And he wouldn't die. In fact it was the last duel that may have pissed her off the most.

Darth Levictus's skill with a lightsaber was good, but Zhaan's was better. So far this seemed to be his only strength against her considerable skills with the force. He thought he had her once. On the upswing of his blade he thought he was close enough to her to cleave her in two. He wasn't. Instead the tip of his lightsaber left a burn up her sternum, up the middle of her breasts, and nipping her chin. It accidentally burned right through the leather strap holding what little she wore over her chest in place.

She had lashed out with Force Lightning blindly as she regained her balance from the strike. Zhaan has deflected some with his blades, taking it as a cue to run again. The next time she had caught up with him, her battle brassiere still hung on her cleft down the middle exposing her breasts. The Twilek fought like she hadn't even noticed. A bright red burn now decorated her middle. The only reason the Sith Lord had been able to close on him once again was the empathic pain he felt when he felt Aliress Va'keer fall.

The Ithorian Jedi Consular had been his commander, senior to both Zhaan and Krunmat, and been becoming a friend Thomas had thought. Her light now extinguished. Thomas had felt her death like someone had punched him in the stomach. He didn't fall down so much as keel over. The noise of it must have given away his position to the psychotic Twilek. He saw her in the corridor, and once she locked on her target she had charged him. Had she made it to him the Jedi would have surely fallen like his other two companions. She did not.

Thomas acted instinctively, as if the force itself guided his movements. The corridor was lined with small potted trees. As he had made his way up from the engineering decks, the corridor and passageway had gone from utilitarian to pleasant and furnished. And as the crazed agent of Sith charged down at him, Thomas grabbed a small potted tree with the force and hurled it at her. It struck her hard up the backside of her neck and skull shattering the planter and covering her in soil. As she toppled over Thomas was once again on the move.

He had been trying to reach the bridge to get to Aliress and figure out where they stood. Levictus had mentioned another Sith was on board, having killed his Rodian friend Krunmat. Had the Sith Lord's master made it all the way up to the station's bridge and killed Aliress to? A hard truth had to be faced. The station was lost. Too much had been done. Thomas had to find a way off the station and quickly. Most of the ships had already departed which left only one option in the Jedi's mind. Trillian. Trillain was the only habitable planetoid body in the system and thankfully it was one of the moons orbiting Vespa. All the escape pods were pre-programmed to land there.

At the next intersection Thomas went to change his course from the command deck to the nearest escape pods… and almost lost his head. He never sensed her, never heard her, and only the reflection of a red glow in the silver casing of a nearby fire extinguisher saved his life. Thomas had been running fast and couldn't stop, so he dropped to his knees and began a long slide, arching his body back as he did. Two red blades zipped by overhead. Had he still been running he would have been cut in half just below the waist. As it was the female Sith tried to compensate, but the momentum in the slide carried Thomas past just fast enough where she missed. Had he had hair on the top of his head it would have been singed off.

Thomas rolled out of his slide with his double lightsaber ignited. In front of him was a new Sith, this one human like himself, although showing no signs of what planet she might be from. She much more conservatively dressed wearing a tight jumpsuit of grey material, Sith writing across her right breast in orange. Her hair had once been died blue or green, but the color had long since started to fade and her original blond hair was showing through. In each hand she held a red bladed lightsaber. She moved with what could only be described as a 'quiet'. There was no pretense with the woman as she lunged at the Jedi. Her fighting style was all offense. And as fast as she was it didn't need offense. Slash, swipe, swing… her barrage never let up. And all through it she never made a sound. No grunting, no sign of exertion, no heavy breathing, and worse no sign of the force.

Thomas continued to defend against the unending attacks. He spun and countered her blows but was unable to go on the offensive at any point. This woman never seemed to tire or let up. The only thing Zhaan had managed to do was move in the right direction. She was pressing, but he was leading. As they fought though the corridors of the station Thomas saw bodies of the dead everywhere. Republic and Station security, as well as the bodies of Mandolorian mercenaries. Some even with lightsaber wounds. She had killed her own men when done with them. Thomas had to put that thought out of his mind; he had to keep steering them toward the escape pods.

The Sith Warriors attacks were relentless; not a sound was uttered as reigned down on the Jedi in a fury of blows. Not a bead of sweat formed on her brow, no sign of fatigue showed at all. It took all the concentration he had just to keep up with the quiet woman's assault. He never had a chance to grad something with the force and fling it, as he had done to the Twilek Sith Lord. At one point Thomas has to leap up and backwards in a flip as he'd had back himself into a row of connected chairs in some sort of waiting area. The quiet woman slammed both blades down against the obstacle when she pulled the blades up again she did so with the force launching the two pieces in different directions and clearing her path entirely. It was at this moment Thomas spotted a flaw he might be able to use in her style.

The fight continued down toward the corridor, each step bringing Thomas closer to his objective. And Thomas wondered if the Sith warrior knew she was being led. Not only had she not shown any signs of exertion, but she hadn't shown any signs of frustration either. She just kept coming. The quiet woman was of one purpose. That is to say it seemed as if nothing else in the universe existed except the destruction of the Jedi before her. Otherwise she was a blank slate. Zhaan had never seen anyone with that much focus. It seemed impossible.

As Zhaan kept them on the move he kept looking for the thing he needed to end this battle. He had seen the electronic labeling that let him know they were almost at the escape pods. But it was outside a small concessions kiosk that he found what he needed. The Jedi having spotted his aide started pushing back in what ways he could. The quiet woman only pressed her offensive hard, not allowing the advantage to be taken from her. Once again she backed her target up against an obstacle. An obstacle he would surely flip over again. But behind it was a corner, in which she would end her opponent's life.

Zhaan knew he only had one shot at his plan. Past that he'd be trapped if it didn't work. Thomas flipped over the row of metal chairs behind him. Without a moments pause, the Sith warrior lifted her blades as she had before, slicing both evenly down, cutting horizontal lines through the seats. Thomas landed on the balls of his feet, only to leap forward using the force to increase his speed in this maneuver. The dual green blades came down hard against the two red blades pushing them into the deck. Thomas flipped over his blade his feet hitting hard into the Sith woman's spine crashing her to the deck in front of her. In a fluid motion, Thomas rolled his body up following his land, now squarely standing on the Sith Warrior's back. With a sharp kick to the back of her head Zhaan planted her face against the deck. Her body went limp.

There would be times in the future he had wished he had killed her here. But in the moment the escaping Jedi didn't think about anything more than getting to the escape pod. He left her still body, quiet even now in unconsciousness, there on the deck between the fallen chairs. Thomas was on the run the moment after the kick connected. The escape pod was right there. He activated the panel outside the hatch of the pod, and began the longest wait in his young life.

The hatch was large and circular, held in place by a large wench that came down from a boom in the ceiling. On it was a large clear window that you could see through. Thomas watched as the activation sequence started to come to life as lights turned on inside the pod illuminating the cabin. He looked back toward the fallen Sith as he clutched the hilt of his own lightsaber. While it was no longer activated, it still gave comfort. The Quiet woman still lay sprawled out on the floor. It was only a matter of time until she recovered. Whether she got up first or the door opened first was anyone's guess.

The automated activation sequence for escape pods only take a few moments, but this was like watching water boil. Had this been an escape pod on a ship, he would already be inside it, as it was launched away from the ship as the systems came to life. On a space station it's slightly different. Escape Pods for Space Stations are normally large life boat like vessels, meant to hold many personnel instead of one or two. Therefore they take a little more time to prep. Thomas's gaze kept switching between the fallen Sith and the view through the window, never wanting to take his eyes off either one. When the large gears started to wheel back unlocking the airlock door, He let out a long exhale not realizing he had been holding his breath. As soon as the door has lifted enough for Thomas to squeeze under, the Jedi moved inside.

In seconds he had moved up to the forward most seat and strapped in. On the front control panel was a large simple button protected by a hard plastic casing. Zhaan pulled out the cotter pin unlocking the plastic casing and releasing the button. As soon as the casing was up, Thomas pressed the button initiating the escape sequence. The escape pod door slid shut, while the sound of the large airlock starting to close could be heard in the background. Thomas again waited impatiently for the large airlock to cycle through. How could they design something for safety that was so damn slo…

… And the escape pop rocketed out of its launch tube destined for Trillian.

"Get up!' Levictus yelled down at the fallen Sith Warrior. "Get up you mute bitch!" this time accompanied with a kick to the ribs.

The quiet woman rolled quickly on her back, her lightsabers igniting as she moved, and ending up with both pointing at Levictus.

"Where is he? Where did he go?" Levictus scowled down at the other woman. The warrior simply aimed one of her lightsabers toward the large airlock door.

Levictus looked toward the airlock door… and screamed. Frustration, embarrassment, and general came out in one shrill furious scream of rage. The Twilek walked toward the bay window looking outside to see if she could see the pod anywhere, but it was futile. She would need to get outside help.

She reached up and flicked one of the spikes on her headdress. A virtual console was projected in front of her, immediately she tapped into her comm system and contacted one of the Sith Destroyers. "Commander, this is Darth Levictus."

"Yes my Lady, how can we be of service?" Respond the tiny man in her virtual heads up display.

"There was an escape shuttle launched a few minutes ago. I want it shot down."

"My Lady, Darth Xernathus said the escape shuttles were to be let go. He explain…" Began the destroyer's commander.

"I don't care what he said. Find that pod and destroy it!" She snarled at the little man.

"Yes my Lady. We will have to deploy fighters as our sensors have taken major damage from the station's assault." The commander informed.

"Then launch he bleeding fighters!" with that Levictus shut off the comms. She stared out the window until she say two glimmers leave the destroyer. Once satisfied she turned back toward her companion. The Sith Warrior was now standing. She didn't make a sound. "Come on." She told the quiet woman as she passed her, now headed for the command center.

The five Sith stood around a holo-display table. Darth Xernathus stood over the head of the table, his eyes watching everything displayed closely. Being projected from the table was a view of Vespa, the station, and all its moons. The display slowly rotated as if to mirror the actual rotation going on the astral bodies outside.

"… And when the Destroyer repair parties finish the repairs in engineering this station will be fully functional my lord." Explained Darth Kasandr, who stood on the right side of the table with a control board for the table in her hands.

"Good. Now someone explain to me how you let a Padawan get away." Xernathus asked. Judging by his tone he was less than pleased.

"He was no padawan; He was full Jedi, my master. Judging from his fighting skill I'd say a Consular, perhaps even one of their Shadows." Darth Levictus cursed, still visibly upset at how the Jedi had escaped her.

"I believe Levictus is correct commander. If the station's logs are accurate the Jedi Thomas Zhaan came aboard with the other two Jedi you encountered." Tapping something on the control panel, Kasandr brought up the Republic bio picture on the display table. "He is not listed as a Padawan, so presumably he has already faced his challenges. Qualifying him as a Jedi. Whether Knight or Consular is unknown, my master."

Xernathus didn't move his face from looking at the table, but his eyes shot her a look to Levictus that let her know of his displeasure. "Captain, have you been listening as I requested?"

One of the large display screens blinked to life on the nearby wall. On it was the commander that Levictus had talked to a while before. "What is the status of the escape pod?"

"My Lord, the pilots I dispatched have reported that by the time they caught up with the escape pod it was entering Trillian's atmosphere. The fighters shot at it from high altitude, while not destroying it, the heavily damaged the pod sending it into a free fall spin. Anyone aboard the vessel would be dead before impact."

"Captain, What were my orders regarding any escaping vessel?" Xernathus asked, slowly turning to face the ship's commander on the view screen.

"My lord you…" The Captain made an odd little noise as he found he couldn't physically move his head. "…you, you instructed to allow all vessels to pass unless designated as Republic vessels. Everyone else was granted safe passage." The captain finished with another odd noise this time of pain.  
"And you felt it was necessary to go against my orders?"

It was odd watching the Captain trying to keep composure while at the same time trying to free his head from the invisible vise grip that was slowly crushing it. "But, my lord, the Lady Levictus…" blood was starting to tear from his eyes and ears.

"Who do you report to Commander?" Xernathus asked strictly.

"You… my… my lord." The captain could barely move his jaw to speak.

"Correct." Xernathus agreed as all the Sith watched the imperial officer's head implode. "XO." The Sith Lord called the executive officer to the front.

A new man stepped into the picture, visibly disturbed by the man he was stepping over. "Yes, my Lord."

"Recall the fighters and wait for further instructions. Is that clear, Captain?" Xernathus asked.

"Yes sir!" The former XO snapped to attention just before Xernathus terminated the connection.

All the Sith in the room heard a choking noise, turning they all saw Darth Levictus clawing at her own throat as she levitated two feet off the deck. Xernathus came around the display table looking up at Levictus. None of the other women said a thing.

"Do you know why I gave that order?" He asked Levictus as he ran his finger up the linear burn that ran up the center of her chest. Levictus could only squirm at her master's touch on her wound. "The resources here aren't going to mine themselves. We need these people. We need them to see that the Sith Empire isn't the demon the Republic would like to paint for them. They will return. And when they do this station will be fully operational, waiting for them with open arms. Just…" He moved his hand up grasping her chin, and the fresh burn there, "under new management."

She tried to sway, to squirm, to get away fro the man, her battle bra still hung open and her breasts bounced around as she did. None of this mattered to Xernathus.

"Lucandis." Xernathus called his Zabrak apprentice.

"Yes. My Lord."

"Take a shuttle, go down to Trillian and find me this Jedi. If he's dead, bring me his body. If he isn't then kill him and bring me his body. Am I clear?" He asked her, never taking his eyes off Levictus.

"Crystal clear, my master."

"Go." He commanded. She was out the door of the command center a second later. Xernathus turned looking once again at the display of the Jedi who got away. "Kasandr, Tamerlai, let us go. There is much to be done." With that all three human Sith started to head out of the Command Center leaving Levictus to hang there.

She hung there for a second, her own force abilities keeping her alive for the moment. Her master had started to force choke her the moment the Captain had flashed up on the screen. No one had seen her lifted off the deck struggling to breathe. She had no idea how long she would hang there, but if she ceased her own resistance her master's ability would immediately crush her windpipe. Without warning she fell to the floor with indignity as she hammered her elbow into the deck plate. And then she heard her master's voice from the passageway outside. "And put a shirt on."


	4. Crashdown on Trillian

The Escape Pod burst forth like a rock from a slingshot. The Jedi inside, the escape pod's soul occupant, was crushed back into his seat by the initial thrust of the catapulting forward thrust. For a few moments Thomas Zhaan was glued to his seat until the inertia finally was compensated by the gravity webbing beneath the deck plates. Thomas immediately began accessing the pod's communication systems. Displays popped to life on the display screen secured to the forward bulkhead. Spinning through the menus he found what he was looking for; Navigational Beacon and Emergency Transponder controls.

A navigational beacon is a simple transmitter that sends out a ship's position, course, and speed. An emergency transponder is a blaring distress beacon that sends out a S.O.S. as far and as loud as it can. Either of which would immediately give his location to any ship in the area. And since the most likely options right now was an occupied space station or one of two enemy destroyers, his position wasn't something he wanted known.

The navigational beacon was shut off easily enough by placing it into a maintenance mode. The beacon powered down immediately and reported it could be accessed for repairs. The emergency transponder was a little harder. Once launched escape pods are supposed to transmit for a long as the can, normally even being made from materials that are crash resistant, often having some sort of flight recorder as a supplement to the mechanism. But they do need to be accessible for regular maintenance and repair when not in use. Thomas was able to access the controls very easily, but the problem came when it asked for a password. Jedis don't normally make good Slicers, and Thomas was no exception to this rule. However he did know a few default passwords to things and began trying those immediately.

Access Denied. Access Denied. Time and again, every password Thomas tried he got the same response. In real time it had only been a few minutes since the launch of the craft, but it seemed like an age to the Jedi.

"I need a different route." Thomas spoke to himself as he backed out of the control menu for the beacon. Frantically he moved through the system files as best he could trying to find some sort of ships schematic. However try as he might, the young Jedi was unable to find a way to shut the transponder down. Thomas sat back in his chair and rubbed his face in frustration. He looked around the cabin, which he felt would surely become his tomb in the next few minutes when he saw it.

Up on the aft bulkhead was a bulky panel covered in black and yellow cautionary stripes. In big red letters it read the following;

EMERGENCY  
TRANSPONDER  
DO NOT  
TAMPER

The look on Thomas's face was priceless. Removing his safety harness, he got up and moved to the back of the compartment. With one quick swipe of his lightsaber a long angular cut appeared on the striped panel, followed by what was severed dropping to the deck. When Thomas was strapped back into his seat he was rewarded with a pop up status indicator on the main display. 'Major System Fault: Emergency Transponder no functional. Contact Station Maintenance Immediately.'

Thomas cleared the error with a smile on his face. He may just live after all. The display returned to the system map showing how long until planet fall. He leaned back in his seat and let out a long breath of relief. While he knew he wasn't out of the woods yet, he felt his chances for survival had risen dramatically. He would still need to find a way off Trillian, and a way back to Ryloth to inform the Jedi Council of what had happened here. Thomas felt exhausted. It hadn't been that long since this all started with the Sith destroyers dropping out of hyper drive into orbit around the station. But he'd been going hard from that moment until now. Thomas hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep until the first volley of fire hit the escape pod.

An emergency Klaxon blared out from the cabin speakers. Thomas snapped awake only to see an Empire fighter fly passed the port window. There wasn't much Thomas could do. The Escape pod had started it's descent into Trillian's atmosphere. There was nothing to be done as the second fighter started its strafing run. And as the fighter blew a hole in the side of the pod's fuselage, the escaping pressure sent the escape pod into a centrifugal spin.

The pressure in the cabin immediately dropped to zero as a large piece of the pod was blown off. Masks dropped from overhead compartments over each seat and a visible trail of oxygen could be seen racing from the vent to the hole exposing the cabin to space. The Jedi grabbed the mask on pure reaction. The simple elastic band pinched against his shaved scalp, but he paid it no mind, the bigger concern was how to plug the hole. Even with the strap he held the mask tightly to his face trying to create a seal against his skin with the hard yellow plastic. Zhaan looked back over the seat to the breach in the rear of the cabin. What happened next was more reaction then instinct. In contemplation later he would never truly know how he came up with the idea, yet he had.

With his free hand he reached toward the aft, pulling forward with the force. Sweat beaded and froze on his head as he fought against the metal infrastructure, bending and collapsing the entire structure on itself trying to crush the hole out of existence. The force is limitless, but the actual use of is even among Jedis is like another muscle. Thomas was not yet strong enough to accomplish something like he was trying, but like many who find themselves in a life or death situation he tapped some inner reserve of strength unknown.

The two pilots watched as the escape pod seemed to collapse in on itself as the outer shell seemed to implode. And as the pod hit the planet's atmosphere there was another large explosion as the flames of re-entry swallowed the craft. With that both the fighters returned to their Destroyer.

Thomas had collapsed the compartment's breach much smaller but couldn't completely collapse the hole. It was time for a switch in tactics. He turned back in his chair, sitting correctly trying to focus on everything around him. He expanded his senses realizing that he couldn't hear in the vacuum of the compartment. He felt the stream of oxygen as it swept out the hole. He felt the edges of the breach with his mind, using the force to act as a net. It was impossible to create some sort of shield as far as he knew like a force field, but the oxygen had presence, structure, and matter. That he could try and grasp. He could feel the molecules move around his net, and he would expand. Slip… Feel the flow… follow the air… finds where it slipped through… expand the net… Slip again… This went on until he could start to hear again. That was when he felt pressure in the cabin again. His goatee started to smile under the plastic yellow cup like mask still feeding him oxygen, and then there was heat.

As the escape pod began to break through the atmosphere, the friction of re-entry set the outer hull of the spinning pod ablaze. At first the flames burst through the breach in a jet of flame trying to incinerate anything that would dare approach the planet, like some sort of invisible guardian. For a second Thomas lost all concentration. Once again the air was immediately stolen from the cabin. The flames disappeared with the air inside the cabin, but the flash of heat had burned the plastic lines feeding him oxygen. It could be anyone's guess whether he would die of asphyxiation or fire first.

The Jedi put his net back up and the sensation of the flames trying to ignite the oxygen within could almost be felt physically. Zhaan began to restructure the net in his mind. The practice of absorbing energy was known to the Jedi, but not something he was particularly skilled in. But to try and absorb the energy out of fire had never been done as far as the Consular knew. But what was fire? And so he tried to think of the scientific structure of what made fire. Heat, Oxygen, Fuel. The friction of the pod against the atmosphere created the heat igniting the gases in the atmosphere surrounding the pod. He tried to stop the reaction as the pod descended perilously toward the moon below.

He never knew if he was successful for a moment later the flames of re-entry ignited the exposed solid fuel compartment. The resulting explosion blew out most of the engine compartment sending the already spinning pod into a twirling nightmare. However collapsing the pod around the around itself to close the breach had twisted the location of the fuel tank outward. Had it not been moved it would have blown through the compartment containing the unconscious Jedi to the moon's floor.

Nomura Usutu sat in her fold out recliner sunning herself in the glow of both the sun and gas giant far above. Tan lines just would not do thought the Mirialan as she basked in the warmth. She was quite pleased with herself. A cargo hold full of goods waiting for a buyer, no one chasing after her for a change, and a few days of down time. She had landed her ship, an older XS Light Freighter on a shoal near the moons equator, an isolated spot she had found on a previous visit. An now relaxing on a towel in the red sand and waves from the cerulean sea lapped in their quiet crashing way the Smuggler didn't think things could get anymore perfect.

And then she heard the explosion.

Nomura sat bolt upright, her hand instinctively reaching for the gun at her hip which wasn't there as it lay in the pile with the rest of her clothes. She plucked the eye protectors off her face in a second looking up toward the sound of the boom. Nomura was no stranger to starships, but she couldn't recognize the craft that no hurled down from the heavens. A thick smoke trail followed the whirling mass as it tried to beat gravity down to the ground.

She sat down, as if mesmerized, watching the craft as it came toward her, like watching a train wreck happen. She felt almost displaced. And then the chute popped open. At first the chute didn't open, its lines to quickly wrapping around the spinning pod. The emergency parachute actually consisted of three chutes; one main and two minor. As the pod continued to plummet uncontrollably one of the minor chutes caught enough air to pull itself open. The pods twirling came to a jolting halt, but the force exerted on the lines of the minor chute snapped at the pressure exerted on only a single chute instead of all three was too much strain. Nomura swore she could hear the snapping of the lines even though the pod was still a few thousand feet in the air.

The snap broke her out of her trance though. She stood up from her towel and tossed on the lower part of her swimsuit and her tank top that lay on the red sand. This only took seconds but when she looked up again the remaining two chutes were straining against the pull of the escape vessel. The cylindrical shape of the pod had been crushed down on itself and now the weight was no longer evenly distributed. The pod lurched back and forth as it still plummeted downward, only the acceleration had seem to finally slow, but was far from safe. Again she lost herself watching the escape pod fall toward the earth. She almost failed to realize it was coming down on her.

At two thousand meters off the ground the main chute finally snapped away, as the lines had been jaggedly cut apart on the torn hull with every lurch. This left all the weight on the minor chute. Once again the pod shifted under the new weight distribution, shifting slightly from what would have been its landing point. The pod now moved back over the open water, but instead of a quick dunk only to rise again, the escape pod was coming in to fast and at the wrong angle.

The sound of metal being crushed again water is indescribable, but as the vessel crashed again the ocean Nomura heard the sound, and then again, and again. The vessel hit the water like a stone that was skimping across the water. The Mirialan watched vessel race on top of the water, hitting it only to rise again and do it over. As it finally came to a rest the vessel looked nothing like the escaped pod it had been on moments before as it began to sink to the oceans floor.

"Oh shit." Nomura whispered to herself. She race back to her freighter. As she ran up the ramp she tried to remember where she had put the emergency gear. She tore around the ring of her ship finally choosing the small cargo bay next to her own quarters. Lock boxes of different sizes and materials we stacked haphazardly around the room. She tore into them looking for the yellow crate. She had won the supplies in a card game about a year before and had just tossed it aside. But now there could be people dying, and she was thankful to have it. When she found the crate she practically tore the lid off looking for something to help. Off to one side were three floatation devices. She quickly read the instructions 'Will inflate upon contact with liquid. Store in a dry area.' With the devices in hand she hauled as back to the beach.

Y the time she made it back to the water's edge the last of the pod disappeared beneath the waves. There was no time, she jumped in the water and began to swim. One device began to expand into a long yellow cylinder as soon as it hit the water, but the other two did nothing. At that moment the smuggler hardly noticed she just put the life preserver in front of here and swam for all she was worth. Every second seemed like an eternity. The longer it took the more people could die and she was the only one who had witnessed anything. Nomura knew the value of self preservation damn well, but she couldn't live with herself if she just let people die for no good reason.

The pod was still releasing air and a trail of rising bubbles and churning water gave away its position. Nomura inhaled deeply a few times trying to expand her lungs before taking a final large gulp of air and diving down. The pod was down about twenty meters and as she swam down she had to re-pressurize her ears twice. The light coming through the water showed an exposed breach into the main cabin, but didn't seem to penetrate inside. As she looked inside her lungs were already beginning to ache for fresh air. And now looking in the darkened interior she couldn't see anyone. An empty escape pod? Didn't make sense. It was more the Smugglers instinct that caused her to go forward. Having hidden enough cargo in her time she knew not everything was what it appeared.

As she dove into the cabin it grew considerably darker, and as she swam down toward the front of cabin she could barely see a thing. She looked in each row, searching for anyone… or anything. Since she had yet to see any survivors, her mind had begun to wonder if someone was trying to get an item out of somewhere. Her lungs were burning and she was about to give up when she saw movement in the dark. Her own curiosity bade her to go on.

The human's body floated there, strapped into a chair in the forward most row. She shook the body as hard as she could but received no response. She could only make out the buckle in the dark by shape, but couldn't see the mechanism. She struggled with the damn thing until her lungs were on fire. And as if she pushed the magic button the clasp released on its own. Nomura tried moving the body, but even underwater he was heavy. It took all her strength to lift him out of the chair and out toward the breach.

She didn't think she could make it back to the surface when ingenuity hit her. She dropped the body against the bulkhead and swam over to the nearest chair. Her eyes smiled with relief in the dark as she found what she was hoping for underneath the seat. She quickly pulled the contents and swam back over to the man. Picking him up once again and bracing herself against the hull, she pushed them both back out through the breach into open water. Once there she pulled the small handle on the package she pulled from the chair. The hiss of air rushing from its container into the bubble could be heard through the water as the orange bubble expanded pulling both of them to the surface. Nomura let out the bad air on the way up no longer able to hold it, and had to force herself not to breathe in.

As they broke through the water to the open air she took a gasping breath tasting the sweet salty air and savoring it. Her companion continued to lie motionless in her arms. She slung him over the flotation cylinder. The bald man wasn't breathing but he did at least have a pulse. "Thank the maker!" Grabbing the opposite side of the cylinder she brought them both back to shore.

She dragged his body up onto the red sand. He still wasn't breathing and his pulse was almost non existent. Finally she took a look at her rescued human. Well at least he isn't ugly she thought to herself as she began trying to resuscitate him. Rescue breaths, chest compressions, check the life signs, repeat. She hadn't had to do this since she had first gotten her pilots license, but she was glad now they had made the class mandatory. They warn you in the class how tiring the resuscitation process is, but there is now way to really tell you until you are doing it. When the human started to choke up the water he had inhaled she almost cried in sheer relief of no longer having to keep pumping.

She turned the man on his side to allow him to vomit up the seawater. As she exposed his back she saw the lightsaber clipped to his belt. The thought was instantaneous. "Crap!"

She sat across from him watching him expel what must be gallons of water, until finally he could breathe again. Nomura contemplated what she needed to do next. The choices weren't too many but they were simple. Leave him here and get off this moon, or help him. And if she did help him would it impact her deadline on Nar Shaddaa? Bowdaar would rip her to pieces if she screwed up his perfect set up.

She stood taking one last looked at the unconscious Jedi and walked toward her ship. "See you later handsome." She called behind her.

She made her way over to her towel and clothes and stopped. She looked at her towel and then back at the spot she left the Jedi. Looked at her towel again and dropped her head. "Damn it." She whispered to herself.

"Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it…" She kept repeating as she returned to the half drowned beach rat that no doubt was going to cause her problems. She rolled her towel and put it across chest, slipping either end under his arms. Using the towel as leverage she began dragging the body back toward her freighter.

"You owe me big time for this, Sis" She cursed into the open air. It took her near an hour to drag the unconscious body back into her ship and get him strapped into one of the extra bunks in the back. He was still breathing and his pulse seemed strong enough, but he still hadn't awakened. She would check on him later. As for now her beach day was shot.

Nomura had been putting off fixing the ventral stabilizers. But seeing as her day of rest and relaxation had been cancelled due to the sky falling, and the trouble that rained down with it, she decided it might be better to get off of Trillian sooner rather than later.

The Sith Lord exited the boarding shuttle with haste for she was in a hurry. Her prey, a Jedi Consular, had already escape not one, but two of her sisters. This simply would not do. Darth Xernathus had chosen well, knowing her skills would prove extremely useful on this hunt.

As she exited the shuttle a young Imperial Lieutenant was there to meet her. She didn't stop but kept walk across the hanger deck to her destination.

The Lieutenant fell in beside her, "My lady, the vessel had been made ready and all the pre flight checks are complete, as you requested. You are free to take off at your choosing."

She did even look at him as she strode on; across the deck was the private craft of her master, a Fury-Class Imperial Interceptor. She loved that ship and would one day have one of her own to do her own bidding… her own hunting. This was neither the first Jedi she had hunted down, nor the first she had ever slayed. But he had proven himself elusive. She found herself actually looking forward to the hunt.

"I'll be leaving immediately. Have your team get out of the Interceptor." Lucandis ordered.

"Yes, my lady." The lieutenant ran ahead gathering his team. They were competent enough. She had chosen Lieutenant Myers herself. She trusted him to do her bidding, as much as one could trust. The soldiers and technicians exited the craft as she strode up the ramp. She knew each of their names. They all paid her the proper respect of a Sith lord as they departed. Lieutenant Myers had chosen his team well. She might even reward him later she thought. And then her mind returned to the hunt. The Jedi would be hers.


End file.
